1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a kitchen environment and, more specifically, is directed to a kitchen workstation incorporating a dual direction sliding tray.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Whenever preparing for or serving a meal to be eaten outside an area of a kitchen, it is often necessary to make numerous trips back and forth to the kitchen in order to obtain the necessary dinnerware, utensils, food items, condiments and the like. If the kitchen is of limited size or only has a single convenient entrance, the necessary trips can become cumbersome and time consuming. Even if the kitchen is more open, such as in a design including an island or a through opening provided in one or more walls, there is still a fair amount of maneuvering required about the island and walls which prolongate the meal preparation time. Even in arrangements wherein there is a table, attached to or directly adjacent the island on the opposite side of the kitchen area, which can be used in connection with chairs or the like as a small breakfast or other eating space, it can still be difficult to access items from the kitchen portion of the island from the eating area.
A similar potential problem exists following a meal. That is, all of the used plates, containers and utensils generally need to be hand-carried back to the kitchen area for cleaning, left-over food needs to be properly cared for and the various condiments need to be returned to the kitchen area. Although hand trays could be utilized to collect many of these items to limit the number of necessary trips, there still exists a need in the art for a system which will enable a wide range of items to be readily transferred back and forth between a kitchen area and an adjacent eating area in a convenient manner in order to effectively reduce meal preparation and clean up times.